Vaporwave

[sheatheman]

This is a great mix, but check out the track that starts around 38:00. It is wonderful, and is a great payoff if you make it all the way there through the mix, but if you want to get right to the goodness I'm talking about, skip to 40:28. It just gets better and better from there.

 

 

https://soundcloud.com/hashmandeejay/hashman-deejay-live

 

 

I'm really into new age jazz resurgence. A great, bohemian way to delve in is going through allmusic and then ordering cassettes for like $4 total on amazon. There is always the wildcard draw at a good thrift, too.

 

Also, I dreamed this song in it's entirety a couple years ago, and I recorded it, kind of crudely, but good enough to get the idea down.Cloudy Skies.mp3

Edited September 17, 2013 by sheatheman

[sheatheman]

Lasership Stereo is the same person as Computer Dreams. You can totally hear it in the production, and see it in the album work. Probably one of my favs. Computer Dreams used to follow me on soundcloud but then the account got taken down, or maybe deleted by the owner.

[prdctvsm]

[chim]

I'm really divided about this type of music.

[Cryptowen]

i was mad into caperwave until the government realized the music was just a front for an elaborate train robbery scheme

[sheatheman]

I thought caper wave was when all the deli's were putting capers in the chicken salad?

[Guest EleminoP]

Played Solitaire while listening to Macintosh Plus. Totally cool experience.

[sheatheman]

I was sitting at home watching Tommy Boy on my projector, then a friend texted me and told me Beer on the Rug was in my town (San Antonio). So I stopped what I was doing and left. If anyone is interested, I can give a breakdown of the night and how it changed my general perception of "the scene." But right now all I will do is post one picture.

[joshuatxuk]

I was sitting at home watching Tommy Boy on my projector

 

That's the best damn intro to a story I've read in a long time!

 

Was it a good, bad, or ugly experience? I've had a good vibe about Beer On The Rug so far, in fact I was pleasantly surprised to see Angel 1 (Boy Snacks) have a tape announced on one of my fav tape labels, ctatsu. Did he gig anywhere else in TX?

[joshuatxuk]

Played Solitaire while listening to Macintosh Plus. Totally cool experience.

 

[sheatheman]

 

I was sitting at home watching Tommy Boy on my projector

 

That's the best damn intro to a story I've read in a long time!

 

Was it a good, bad, or ugly experience? I've had a good vibe about Beer On The Rug so far, in fact I was pleasantly surprised to see Angel 1 (Boy Snacks) have a tape announced on one of my fav tape labels, ctatsu. Did he gig anywhere else in TX?

 

 

Well, I was expecting a much more vapor-heavy thing going on: internet waiting rooms, instructional videos, but you know, how much can you actually perpetuate that consistently in a live setting when no one is aware of it? It ended up being a mishmash of chillwave, witchhouse, ambient, shoegaze, and some beat stuff, with a little bit of what I would consider vaporwave.

 

It was YYU, Exael, and C V L T S (cults?, which is made up of two guys, one of them, forgot his name, something like Darv, is the head of the label from what I understand). It was curious for sure. I think I was the most aware person there, as far as what the music is actually about and all of reference points. There is no vaporwave scene in San Antonio, and probably not Austin either judging by YYU's description of their show there. He said he liked San Antonio better.

 

The show was held in the burgeoning arts district (South Town), kind of an East Austin vibe with less vegan food and more Mexicans, at the place called "The Collective," which had a pretty alright selection of vhs and a pretty obvious bin of cassettes (phil collins et al.). A lot of the people there were total scenesters. I even saw one girl that was recovering from being goth and was sporting aquamarine seapunk hair, but she probably just listened to Morrissey and Bright Eyes, because she had no connection to the music at all. It was mostly young college people and even some pre-college kids, and some of them were just there to take pictures in the same way that pictures have been taken at shows for the entire time I have been going to them. Maybe fifty people total?

[sheatheman]

Here is a play by play of the night:

 

Doors opened at 9, but I got there at around 10:30. There were a lot of people standing outside, drinking and smoking. I did not partake.

 

The show had not started yet. YYU was kneeling down DJing tapes, and then Darv(?) would play some smooth, vocal-heavy Dido-esque stuff that was very self aware in that context. I liked it. I grooved a bit to it and Darv nodded at me. I think he could tell I understood him. Lots of people kept asking, "Have they started yet? I thought there was going to be live music."

 

After I wandered around for a long time, and joked briefly with Exael about whether or not they had a rug I could pour some beer on, the lights went dim and YYU took the "stage." His live show was probably the best. There was guitar, a 404, vocals, and a bell. He also had a veil in front of his face, and eventually he covered himself with a bed sheet and rocked back and forth while manipulating faint, murmuring samples. That was probably the most vaporwave moment of the night. He played some actual beats, though, and it was pretty good. Most of the people seemed to be very confused though.

 

Then Exael got up and started playing his midi which was hooked up to a dated Dell laptop. He also used a 404. Besides some japanese voice manipulation and erratic percussion, he played ambient for most of the set, and he had a pretty black shirt with this bear/waterfall/forest pattern on it. People started sitting down for his set, and the photographer kept pretending to be sleeping, after which he would look at his friend and laugh, as if the music was a lullaby. After his set, a couple of 16-19 year old guys came up mesmerized, asking about if he was processing his "synth keyboard" through his computer. Exael gave an brief, admirable explanation of MIDI, and then I argued with Exael about renoise for a minute. Then those kids started asking me if I was a musician too.

 

Finally, CVLTS got BEHIND the projector screen and played some chillgaze type stuff. It was pretty nice, some of it very similar to Belong - Common Era, but it was intentionally marred by the guy playing guitar. They would get a really good loop going and then he would just kill it every time with an out of tune thrash. Again, I'm pretty sure it was intentional.

 

They were standing in a group afterwards, no one really talking to them, and I went up and thanked them for coming. They all gave me a hug. I left with a copy of Prism Corp - Clear Skies on tape.

 

I have some vertically oriented videos. The ones toward the end are stupidly short because my phone ran out of space.

 

 

YYU

https://www.dropbox.com/s/h4kcsc1ljwhf31g/Video%20Sep%2020%2C%2010%2051%2055%20PM.mov

https://www.dropbox.com/s/7fyqm8apb0owwgt/Video%20Sep%2020%2C%2011%2004%2027%20PM.mov

https://www.dropbox.com/s/dxcmjg5gkvkjbhs/Video%20Sep%2020%2C%2011%2007%2020%20PM.mov

YYU Bedsheet Segment (my favorite)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/n3o9d7hrfw76fsk/Video%20Sep%2020%2C%2011%2015%2000%20PM.mov

 

Exael

https://www.dropbox.com/s/u9ga9z2unqynjdp/Video%20Sep%2020%2C%2011%2050%2037%20PM.mov

https://www.dropbox.com/s/d71ir116ep8zgnk/Video%20Sep%2020%2C%2011%2057%2001%20PM.mov

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ydsyvf3vd0frecg/Video%20Sep%2020%2C%2011%2058%2019%20PM.mov

 

CVLTS

https://www.dropbox.com/s/uqug0rapms2x638/Video%20Sep%2021%2C%2012%2031%2036%20AM.mov

https://www.dropbox.com/s/osa7a50c8dgt0wm/Video%20Sep%2021%2C%2012%2038%2017%20AM.mov

 

 

Edited September 24, 2013 by sheatheman

[Cryptowen]

that sounds like a fun time (haven't watched the videos buy my imagination version of the concert is pretty groovy)

 

 

VAPOURWAVE SHOW CONCEPT:

opening act is a straightforward ambient synth set (or heck, a rock band if you dig crossover appeal)

second act makes tracks entirely out of samples taken from the first set

third act samples the second

etc

 

basically the whole show would be a musical version of that game where kids sit in a circle & send a message around entirely via whisper, and it always comes out totally mutated from the original

[sheatheman]

that sounds like a fun time (haven't watched the videos buy my imagination version of the concert is pretty groovy)

 

 

VAPOURWAVE SHOW CONCEPT:

opening act is a straightforward ambient synth set (or heck, a rock band if you dig crossover appeal)

second act makes tracks entirely out of samples taken from the first set

third act samples the second

etc

 

basically the whole show would be a musical version of that game where kids sit in a circle & send a message around entirely via whisper, and it always comes out totally mutated from the original

 

Shoot, that is a good idea for a show. That's something that needs to be done. Just none of that lame sampling where you repeat a section just for the sake of it. If you are going to repeat it, it needs to sound good.

[Plarkreluke Banloboh]

I'm really divided about this type of music.

[Cryptowen]

Just none of that lame sampling where you repeat a section just for the sake of it. If you are going to repeat it, it needs to sound good.

Oh yeah, for sure. They'd want to be making new melodic lines & rhythms out of the samples (or at least drenching them in fx), or else after 40 minutes all you'd have to be left to work with is a 0.5 second loop of DA-DO-DA

[sheatheman]

http://youtu.be/ZfE4bFsSHzU

[patternoverlap]

lol

[sheatheman]

DIS has lots of...stuff on there.

Edited September 25, 2013 by sheatheman

[joshuatxuk]

It was YYU, Exael, and C V L T S (cults?, which is made up of two guys, one of them, forgot his name, something like Darv, is the head of the label from what I understand). It was curious for sure. I think I was the most aware person there, as far as what the music is actually about and all of reference points. There is no vaporwave scene in San Antonio, and probably not Austin either judging by YYU's description of their show there. He said he liked San Antonio better.

 

The show was held in the burgeoning arts district (South Town), kind of an East Austin vibe with less vegan food and more Mexicans, at the place called "The Collective," which had a pretty alright selection of vhs and a pretty obvious bin of cassettes (phil collins et al.). A lot of the people there were total scenesters. I even saw one girl that was recovering from being goth and was sporting aquamarine seapunk hair, but she probably just listened to Morrissey and Bright Eyes, because she had no connection to the music at all. It was mostly young college people and even some pre-college kids, and some of them were just there to take pictures in the same way that pictures have been taken at shows for the entire time I have been going to them. Maybe fifty people total?

 

 

Is there vaporwave scene anywhere? Or like, do any of these guys come from the same area? I always had the impression that the only "vaporwave" scene was the internet and everyone knew each other primarily online. And I must admit, the genre has essentially called me out on my bad habits of skimming information online, because by default I assumed most of the beer on the rug artists were the same dude.

 

I appreciate your description of the gig's audience and vibe. In the last few years I've realized how fucking irrelevant a descriptor "hipster" is, because there's really two kinds of people at the end of each spectrum: relentless scenesters and actual music geeks. Neither can be easily picked out by physical appearance alone, just by observation of behavior. Likewise, you can't judge a venue, let alone a whole town, by assuming it's full of one or the other. People either care about music and art or they just superficially browse it in order to keep up with the Joneses.

 

I suppose getting older has firmly placed me and many of my friends in the geek category. During the Cassette Store Day for instance, I ended up talking about SKAM and noise music with a couple strangers and a knowledgeable store clerk, and all of them were easily the most "average" looking people in the store. Before that a younger guy trying really hard to look and sound hip as fuck started lecturing out loud about how he felt about cassettes and the format's revival. I quickly figured out he talking out of his ass. I was polite too, somehow not calling him out to be a fucking moron when he told someone Deerhunter "sounded like Joy Division." Likewise months ago, when I was crate-digging, some college students went through cassettes looking for the most "meta" tapes. I couldn't tell if they were sarcastic or ironic or, well, even acting normal. It's odd listening to people talk and watching their facial expressions and realizing they are not being themselves, or it's some kind of game of who will actually admit to shamelessly liking or disliking something. And I say this as someone who was, well, kind of like that myself as a 19 and 20 year old. People are strange.

 

 

Just none of that lame sampling where you repeat a section just for the sake of it. If you are going to repeat it, it needs to sound good.

Oh yeah, for sure. They'd want to be making new melodic lines & rhythms out of the samples (or at least drenching them in fx), or else after 40 minutes all you'd have to be left to work with is a 0.5 second loop of DA-DO-DA

 

 

Didn't Eiffel 65 made a lot of $$$ of that very thing?

 

 

 

Here is a play by play of the night:

 

Doors opened at 9, but I got there at around 10:30. There were a lot of people standing outside, drinking and smoking. I did not partake.

 

The show had not started yet. YYU was kneeling down DJing tapes, and then Darv(?) would play some smooth, vocal-heavy Dido-esque stuff that was very self aware in that context. I liked it. I grooved a bit to it and Darv nodded at me. I think he could tell I understood him. Lots of people kept asking, "Have they started yet? I thought there was going to be live music."

 

After I wandered around for a long time, and joked briefly with Exael about whether or not they had a rug I could pour some beer on, the lights went dim and YYU took the "stage." His live show was probably the best. There was guitar, a 404, vocals, and a bell. He also had a veil in front of his face, and eventually he covered himself with a bed sheet and rocked back and forth while manipulating faint, murmuring samples. That was probably the most vaporwave moment of the night. He played some actual beats, though, and it was pretty good. Most of the people seemed to be very confused though.

 

Then Exael got up and started playing his midi which was hooked up to a dated Dell laptop. He also used a 404. Besides some japanese voice manipulation and erratic percussion, he played ambient for most of the set, and he had a pretty black shirt with this bear/waterfall/forest pattern on it. People started sitting down for his set, and the photographer kept pretending to be sleeping, after which he would look at his friend and laugh, as if the music was a lullaby. After his set, a couple of 16-19 year old guys came up mesmerized, asking about if he was processing his "synth keyboard" through his computer. Exael gave an brief, admirable explanation of MIDI, and then I argued with Exael about renoise for a minute. Then those kids started asking me if I was a musician too.

 

Finally, CVLTS got BEHIND the projector screen and played some chillgaze type stuff. It was pretty nice, some of it very similar to Belong - Common Era, but it was intentionally marred by the guy playing guitar. They would get a really good loop going and then he would just kill it every time with an out of tune thrash. Again, I'm pretty sure it was intentional.

 

 

 

 

They were standing in a group afterwards, no one really talking to them, and I went up and thanked them for coming. They all gave me a hug. I left with a copy of Prism Corp - Clear Skies on tape.

 

I have some vertically oriented videos. The ones toward the end are stupidly short because my phone ran out of space.

 

 

 

YYU

https://www.dropbox.com/s/h4kcsc1ljwhf31g/Video%20Sep%2020%2C%2010%2051%2055%20PM.mov

https://www.dropbox.com/s/7fyqm8apb0owwgt/Video%20Sep%2020%2C%2011%2004%2027%20PM.mov

https://www.dropbox.com/s/dxcmjg5gkvkjbhs/Video%20Sep%2020%2C%2011%2007%2020%20PM.mov

YYU Bedsheet Segment (my favorite)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/n3o9d7hrfw76fsk/Video%20Sep%2020%2C%2011%2015%2000%20PM.mov

 

Exael

https://www.dropbox.com/s/u9ga9z2unqynjdp/Video%20Sep%2020%2C%2011%2050%2037%20PM.mov

https://www.dropbox.com/s/d71ir116ep8zgnk/Video%20Sep%2020%2C%2011%2057%2001%20PM.mov

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ydsyvf3vd0frecg/Video%20Sep%2020%2C%2011%2058%2019%20PM.mov

 

CVLTS

https://www.dropbox.com/s/uqug0rapms2x638/Video%20Sep%2021%2C%2012%2031%2036%20AM.mov

https://www.dropbox.com/s/osa7a50c8dgt0wm/Video%20Sep%2021%2C%2012%2038%2017%20AM.mov

 

 

 

Thanks for the recap, I look forward to watching the clips too.

Edited September 25, 2013 by joshuatx

[sheatheman]

Is there vaporwave scene anywhere? Or like, do any of these guys come from the same area? I always had the impression that the only "vaporwave" scene was the internet and everyone knew each other primarily online. And I must admit, the genre has essentially called me out on my bad habits of skimming information online, because by default I assumed most of the beer on the rug artists were the same dude.

 

 

I appreciate your description of the gig's audience and vibe. In the last few years I've realized how fucking irrelevant a descriptor "hipster" is, because there's really two kinds of people at the end of each spectrum: relentless scenesters and actual music geeks. Neither can be easily picked out by physical appearance alone, just by observation of behavior. Likewise, you can't judge a venue, let alone a whole town, by assuming it's full of one or the other. People either care about music and art or they just superficially browse it in order to keep up with the Joneses.

 

I suppose getting older has firmly placed me and many of my friends in the geek category. During the Cassette Store Day for instance, I ended up talking about SKAM and noise music with a couple strangers and a knowledgeable store clerk, and all of them were easily the most "average" looking people in the store. Before that a younger guy trying really hard to look and sound hip as fuck started lecturing out loud about how he felt about cassettes and the format's revival. I quickly figured out he talking out of his ass. I was polite too, somehow not calling him out to be a fucking moron when he told someone Deerhunter "sounded like Joy Division." Likewise months ago, when I was crate-digging, some college students went through cassettes looking for the most "meta" tapes. I couldn't tell if they were sarcastic or ironic or, well, even acting normal. It's odd listening to people talk and watching their facial expressions and realizing they are not being themselves, or it's some kind of game of who will actually admit to shamelessly liking or disliking something. And I say this as someone who was, well, kind of like that myself as a 19 and 20 year old. People are strange.

 

Personally, I rarely "go out" to that type of thing. I know how to act but I don't want to. College kids say "meta" once they read Slaughterhouse Five and their professor tells them that it is "metafiction." Then they use because they think it makes them smart. It's a great prefix though.

[joshuatxuk]

That's cool that they were so friendly. Musicians at such gigs seems to really appreciate when sincere fans come up to say they enjoyed the show.

[sheatheman]

Yeah, they were nervous and discouraged beforehand I think. Barely anyone was working with them on the vibe. I think the crowd really has to participate for it to work.

 

Forgot to add this earlier:

 

I asked them if they were based anywhere in particular and they said that it was a netlabel, but a couple of them are from KC/wichita falls. I'm not really a music geek, but I'm not a scenester either. I'm just someone trying to make stuff. The music I know is probably 10% of what most music geeks know. I think there is a third category.

 

I try to be genuine, and even if I'm listening to this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1xCua10vuA

, part of me is actually liking it. Fun and comedy is important, and I like to be funny, but I'm really a serious person interested in real things.

Edited September 25, 2013 by sheatheman

[Nebraska]

 

http://vaporbabes.bandcamp.com/album/nyetscape

[joshuatxuk]

Yeah, they were nervous and discouraged beforehand I think. Barely anyone was working with them on the vibe. I think the crowd really has to participate for it to work.

 

Forgot to add this earlier:

 

I asked them if they were based anywhere in particular and they said that it was a netlabel, but a couple of them are from KC/wichita falls. I'm not really a music geek, but I'm not a scenester either. I'm just someone trying to make stuff. The music I know is probably 10% of what most music geeks know. I think there is a third category.

 

I try to be genuine, and even if I'm listening to this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1xCua10vuA

, part of me is actually liking it. Fun and comedy is important, and I like to be funny, but I'm really a serious person interested in real things.

 

I think Huerco S. is from KC

 

 

http://vaporbabes.bandcamp.com/album/nyetscape

 

pls tell me that's a screenshot of Gran Turismo's Special Stage Route 11

 

dem memoriez